Tuesday, November 1, 2011

By 1967 Triumph were enjoying great success with the bike, especially in the US, here is a brochure for the years US models.

The Bonneville T.T. Special was the hot rod of the range, built as a full on Racer, High Compression Racing Pistons, High Lift Cams, no lights and bigger Carbs were the main items that differed from the standard T120R Bonneville.

Many say the TR6 from 1967 was one of the best Triumphs to ride with it's easy to maintain single Carburetor. The TR6C was the off road version sold with E.T. Ignition and Trials Tires.

The Mountain Cub sold like hot cakes proving to be a very popular machine since it's introduction in 1964.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

I would like to take this opportunity to blog briefly about The Quail Motorcycle Gathering held last weekend at the stunning Quail Lodge Golf Course in Carmel California. The wife and I decided to make a weekend of it for a quick getaway and thought it would be cool to see the Bikes on display on the Lawn and also check out the Bonham's auction in the Club House. The day became a very special occasion when a Motorcycle I had restored and then sold was entered into the show and came away with first place in it's class.

The bike in question is a 1957 Triumph TR6 that I spent the best part of 2010 restoring. The restoration is featured in a post from January this year.

(http://tonupclassics.blogspot.com/2011_01_01_archive.html)

Rob Jordan and myself enjoying the day, Rob is an old friend of mine from the our days in Norwich, he purchased the Bike for his collection after the restoration was completed.

Neither of us expected the award, the competition was something else. It was in the European Class to 1978 so it was not only up against the best of British but also very tasty Italian Ducati's and Laverda's, German BMW's amongst others.

I nearly dropped my pint when the yellow tag was placed on the parcel Grid! Very tasteful Tiffany award will be a nice addition to Rob's Sideboard.

Rob and I with Geoff Giamarco who was responsible for the paint work. I was glad he was at the show to see his work "Triumph".

Highlight of the show was Rollie Free and his Vincent that he rode across the salt at well over a ton in his underpants!

Friday, March 11, 2011

Just came across some scans of a very cool '50's Lewis Leathers Catalog featuring all the best in Motorcycle gear. Smashing cover graphics get things started.

Barbour still produce these Trials suits today.Look out for the new Lewis Leathers range of Boots. Check out there website for more info but I have seen them in person and can recommend them as some smart kit, especially the Westway boot.

Super-Jet, super cool....

The classic Bronx is still one of their best sellers.

This catalog came with product and shipping price lists.

As I said, check out their website for more info, http://www.lewisleathers.com

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

It has been a few years since I sold my last modern Triumph, a '97 Speed Triple, and I was getting the urge for another push button bike. It did not take long to come to the conclusion that it had to be Triumph Thruxton. After a few months of looking I decided on this '06 model which only had 700 miles on it and was like new.

Love the way it sits. A very comfortable that ride that feels like a traditional British Twin.

Keeping with an unwritten Cafe Racer rule that the tallest part of the machine shall be the top of the Clocks. Triumph got it spot on.

Not too many mods as of yet, some Triumph Off Road Mufflers were essential as the stock items were nothing short of rubbish. Also the stock Tail Lamp and Turn Signals had to go.

I changed the Tank badges to the "Harmonica" or "Garden Gate" style that were used on the vintage Triumphs from 1957 to 1965, no other Badge comes close.The blue reminds me of the original 1965 Thruxton.

Not a great fan of the checkered decals but I can live with them for now.Bar end mirrors are quite effective.I opted to retain the original rear fender, it seems that most prefer the Fender elimination kits that are on the market but not for me, this is a Caff Racer not street fighter.

Nice to have a bike that I can go some distance on without the reliablilty worries that come when out on my old classics. It has definitely rekindled my enthusiasm for riding. I am well pleased I opted for this Bike.

Friday, January 14, 2011

This 1957 Triumph TR6 is the latest machine to emerge from the Ton Up Classics restoration department. This sporting off road model was consistently a winner in it's day, taking the lead at Scrambles events such as the Catalina Grand Prix, Big Bear Enduro amongst many others. The bike of choice for many was the TR6, a popular model amongst racers such as Bud Ekins, Bill Postel, Roger White amongst others.

Here are a few pictures of what I started with, a rough old bike that I knew would test my skills, frozen motor and all that goes with it.

The bike came to me with 2 others, a 1957 T110 Desert Sled and 1960 Tiger Cub Scrambler, all 3 were owned by a souther california racer by the name of Bob Rickard, he raced Triumphs in the 1950's and became a winner that began riding for Honda in 1961, winning a scrambles event at Daytona in 1963.

Last registered in 1959! It was parked at that time and a few parts were borrowed to keep Rickards Desert Sled racing campaign alive.After a visit to the Alignment Shop the Frame and other Cycle parts were stripped bare and many hours of prep were necessary to rid of unwanted pitting and wear to get the finish I wanted.

New Swinging Arm bushing are a must, nearly always worn out due to lack of grease.

New Steering Head Cups and Cones and ball bearings were needed to replace the old pitted and worn parts, I prefer using the original loose balls and races than the available tapered needle roller bearings because I find the final fit a bit better.

This picture shows the Front End parts ready for assembly. New Tubes, Bushings and Seals are fitted as a matter of course.The Heart of the engine, the Crankshaft.

The Pre Unit Triumph used a 3 Piece Crankshaft that is held together by 6 Hi-Tensil Bolts. It is essential to split the Crank in order to clean out the Sludge Trap, years of sludge collects here and they always need cleaning.

Hight strength bolts rarely fail when installed correctly.

Here is a rare sight, an un-cracked 8 Bolt Alloy Cylinder Head. Pre Unit Heads were prone to cracking between the Valve Seat and Stud hole, I was suprised how nice this was considering the condition of the Engine when starting out. This picture taken after a Valve Job.

Transmission parts were donated from a spare 1963 Unit Engine I had kicking around, the original Gears were not worn but had pitted over the years sitting and I did not want tp re-use them, the parts from the unit box were in excellent condition and the swap over was simple. The only snag was with the Speedo Drive on the end of the layshaft, this had to be swapped as the unit drives are slightly larger. Obviously worn parts were replaced, in the Gearbox I fitted a new Camplate, Sprocket, High Gear Bush, Thrust Washers and the Bushes that the Layshaft run in were converted to Needle Roller Bearings.

This picture shows the Primary Drive, new parts throughout.

As with all my restorations, each and every part gets attention, I prefer Powder Coating on most of the Cycle parts although Tanks, Chainguard, Tool Box and Fork Covers are all professionally sprayed. Hardware is Cadmium plated, I am very aware of using the correct fasteners in all the correct places, absolutely no hardware store stuff here.

Finally a few pictures of the finished build. Is there a better looking Triumph Front Brake?

The original 376/40 Amal Carburetor was restored and put back into service.

Engine and Transmission covers are polished and buffed.

The original bakelite Lodge Plug Caps are nice surviving features.

Dunlop Trials Tires, high level exhaust and quickly detachable lighting meant that this bike could be converted from street to off-road in minutes.

This shot gives a good look at the 1" Bars, Chronometric Speedometer, Q/D Head Lamp and the Parcel Grid.

Special attention is always paid to reproducing an authentic looking seat, I find most reproduced items to be for the most part odd looking, a bad seat can destroy the lines of an otherwise tasty machine.

In my opinion 1957 was a great year for the Triumph range, the TR6 was offered in both Road (TR6A) and Off Road (TR6B) forms. The '57 line up also included the mighty Tiger 110, Thunderbird, Tiger 100, TR5, Speed Twin and Tiger Cub.This TR6 has a new home in a collection in Northern California, I am proud to announce that the new owner has reported back to me letting me know how happy he is with this machine, not only how nicely it displays but also how well it runs.